Frozen Heart
by Nanospeed
Summary: FE7  All it took was one simple wish from a certain half-dragon girl to change the fate of the world forever.


**Frozen Heart**

**Chapter 1: The Butterfly Effect **

Long ago, a certain little girl lay upon the floors of a place called the Dragon's Gate.

She did not know that the gate was an entrance to paradise. Nor was she fully aware that a legendary war known as the Scouring was taking place between humans and dragons. The only thing on her mind was that her father and mother were missing.

Her eyes were fixated upon the sky above through a massive hole in the ceiling. There were countless shinning stars arranged in beautiful patterns and bright colours beyond imagination that illuminated the darkness. It was a scene that she was familiar with, one that reminded her of home. Perhaps it would be the last time she would ever see it again.

"Is daddy back yet?" It was the voice of a boy filled with anticipation.

"No Nils," the girl replied as she rolled to her side to face her younger brother. Her sleeveless white dress ruffled with her movements, its thin fabric offering no protection against the bitter cold of the night. But she did not mind. The frigid empty winds were her friend, it was seemingly a part of her.

"Why?" He asked, nervously fidgeting his fingers. He stood at the exit looking towards the horizon in hopes that either parent would show up. But all that was in sight were large trees and darkness, nothing new since he started watching intently a few hours ago.

The girl sighed, it was a question that she swore she had heard for the hundredth time. It was not because she was frustrated but rather that she did not know the answer herself. All she knew was that bad men took mom away. She remembered how scary those men were, as she watched the scene hidden from their gazes with the power to do nothing. She heard things a child should not hear, she saw things a child should not see.

Dad upon learning the situation choose to follow them, to save mom. But not before leaving specific instructions in case the worse happened. He promised that he would be back, that they would be a family again. It has been over ten days since then.

So she obeyed, waiting at a designated place for many days. Staying hidden from anything suspicious and then making the long journey to the very location they were at now.

"It's time to go," she finally said, ignoring her brothers question. She knew that one last instruction remained.

"Ninian!" The little boy cried out her name in desperation. "Wait! Daddy will be back! You'll see!"

"But we cannot wait any longer," Ninian replied gently as a caring sister would. She did her best to ration the food that dad left behind for a little longer than intended, but now there was nothing left. Waiting any longer was dangerous for the both of them. "I'm sorry..."

She stood up and for what seemed like an eternity watched her brother tremble. She knew that he was experiencing fear. It was understandable, a child so young without his parents protection for such a long time was enough to make any normal kid break down. There was nothing that she could do.

But Ninian felt a different emotion which could only be described as a empty void within her heart. She promised her father to do something scary. She had the responsibility of protecting Nils who was too young to understand the situation. She experienced the hatred from both men and dragon. She witnessed her mother being violently taken away. It was an emotion that transcended fear which could only be described as loneliness, one born from misunderstanding.

She turned away from her brother and decided that he could have a few more minutes to continue waiting, to continue hoping. She reluctantly began to walk towards the stone arches that made up the mysterious gate but then she suddenly stopped after a few steps.

Her gaze fell upon the sky one last time. She wondered if something was beyond the stars, something or someone looking right back at her. Maybe he or she or it would know what was within her heart and understand her. At that point something within Ninian called out, a simple desire to a place unknown.

Suddenly something caught her eye, a shooting star flew overhead as if to answer. It was a light closer than any other star she had seen before. Every child knew what a shooting star meant. Instinctively the little girl closed her eyes and a wish flickered through her mind.

At that moment everything changed. If the power known as fate had its way, then Ninian would have not noticed the shooting star. She would have mustered the last of her courage and proceeded to use the Dragon's Gate. The existences known as Ninian and Nils would have disappeared from the continent of Elibe for hundreds of years, their whereabouts unknown to man. Both children would somehow lose most of their memories about their father and mother due to an unknown force. Ninian and Nils would have returned only to be held captive by a cruel, twisted dark sorcerer. She would have escaped and met new friends under different circumstances and even play a key role in saving the world.

But it only takes one little thing...

"Ah!" Ninian gasped in surprise as her little brother bumped into her from behind. She stumbled causing the contents of her brown satchel to spill upon the floor. "Nils!"

"Sorry," the toddler replied, seemingly startled by the loud echoes within the hall when the objects hit the floor. After a few seconds of waiting, silence returned.

"It's okay," Ninian sighed as she kneeled and began to pick the items up. There were not many things within the bag to begin with since all the food and water was gone. All that really was left were objects that were precious to the two siblings. She slipped one of her younger brother's toys back into the bag, then a bright blue rock that resembled a gem.

That object was something that caused Ninian a lot trouble. It was something she was born with which her mother called a dragon stone. It was proof that she was not normal, having half the blood of a dragon and half the blood of a human running through her veins. It was because of who she was, that she was not accepted within this world by either.

"But why did you bump into me?" She asked while shrugging the thought off and slipping a small family picture back into the bag. "I thought you were still waiting for dad all the way over there?" Ninian motioned with her free hand back to the exit of the temple.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise, as if he too wondered for a moment why he abandoned such an important task. "I saw a butterfly, I wanted to catch it."

The answer was so honest and so simple for Nils. A perfectly acceptable reason for her curious younger brother. But what strangely stood out to Ninian was the fact that a butterfly would be out in the middle of the night. Butterflies are only active during the day right? But she shook her head as she realized it did not matter. She then watched as Nils ran down a flight of stairs and back to the exit to watch again for their parents.

Once again Ninian turned back to the marble arches. She finally resolved to stop stalling and open that Dragon's Gate. She firmly walked closer unsure of how such a device worked and even if someone small like herself could open doors that were so big. But she remembered her dad saying that she was a clever girl and that things would work itself out.

He definitely was not wrong. Ninian started hearing voices as if something was calling out to her. Her blue dragon stone started to glow along with her dilated crimson, ruby eyes. She could see runic markings etched into the stone and somehow she understood everything. The Dragon's gate named after its creators was working as it was intended to, allowing its lock to be tampered only by a few select beings.

Ninian's right arm lifted up, her hand reaching out. Suddenly, a blinding light filled the hall and a strange rift of energy appeared in the area where the marble doors used to be, while a soft, gentle hum reverberated off the walls. To the little girl, it could only be described as something magical. She could even see something beyond the light, it was a place unlike anything she ever seen before.

This was the last instruction from her father should he not return. Take Nils and leave her home behind to this place where it was safe.

But at that moment a glimmer on the floor caught her eye. It was one of her possessions that must have dropped out of her bag earlier, but she missed picking it up due to its small size. However its metallic lustre was now plainly visible due to the light emitted from the gate. It was a simple silver ring which belonged to her mother.

Ninian's eyes ceased glowing as she turned her attention from the gate to the memoir of her mother. Her desire to see her mom now was stronger than the fulfillment of her promise to dad.

"Ninian!" Her brother's terrified scream pierced the air. She snapped back to reality and realized immediately that something was wrong.

All it took was a fraction of a second for her heart to waver, for the gate to cease from opening midway through. The gates hums were now violent roars and the world she once saw on the other side vanished only to be replaced by a ball of light collapsing on itself. She understood everything, she knew how this was going to end, she knew that she could not get away in time.

"Dad... Mom... Nils... I'm sorry...," she whispered.

The last thing she saw was an explosion, as a deafening scream filled her ears and her entire body feeling an intense pain. Then the world around her seemingly faded away to darkness.

As her thoughts faded too, she realized that this darkness was similar to the loneliness that filled her heart.

"This wasn't what I wished for..."

**Author's Notes: **The feeling of encountering writers block is frustrating to all authors, but when your imagination is hit with inspiration something happens. The moment when your mind can picture a story and put it into words without any obstacles definitely makes me very happy. Of course after not writing for quite a while, I realized my work is prone to a lot of errors. Man do I have much improvement to do (from grammar to fight sequences to romance dialogue).

If you haven't guessed already, this is a fan fiction for the story Fire Emblem 7: The Blazing Sword (Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken). My intent is follow the original storyline that is recognizable to most fans, including the major canonical scenes and timeline. Yet I want to be creative enough to diverge off the story just a little bit, add what I can as a fan fiction writer.

Strangely enough most Fire Emblem 7 novelizations revolve around the tactician. Don't get me wrong, most of these stories are really, really, really good. And it does make sense since the tactician is around for all chapters of the game. But I am starting to feel that this perspective is overused, so I decided to challenge myself and use different character(s).

Yes my prologue should be recognizable to hardcore fans. Reference to little Ninian and Nils are from a certain bonus chapter (play Hector's Hard Mode to find it). The Dragon's Gate explosion scene was drawn upon a chapter where a certain unfortunate morph meets his end.

Lastly I have a question to you, the reader: Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? Someone famous once said that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can cause a hurricane somewhere else. It is an allusion, saying that one small thing is all it takes to drastically change the future. And that is what this chapter encompasses.

So thats it! New chapter weekly (hopefully). Review and subscribe! I need all the help and encouragement on this story I can get.


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